Sunny Pie Up

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 21:21:49 +0000

Who doesn’t like lemon meringue pie? I was happy to oblige, when Kate choose this classic for Sunday lunch, as I needed to use up a batch of sweet pastry languishing in the freezer since Christmas and I knew whose recipe I would follow.

It was only when the pie was under construction that Kate informed me that this pie is Chris’ pièce de résistance and Hannah’s dessert of choice when they visit her parents. No pressure!

The result - I wouldn’t dream of asking the girls to make a comparison but it went down well, although it wouldn’t have won any prizes as it behaved in that typical lemon meringue way, weeping into the crust.

I can’t remember the last time I made a lemon meringue pie but when I was a child it appeared on the Sunday lunch table with regularity. Mum used Green’s Lemon Meringue Pie Mix with its little lemon oil capsule hiding in the powder. Now I think back, the pastry had to be made (I’m not sure you could buy preprepared pastry in the 60s) and the eggs separated and added and whisked to a snowy meringue. So, what exactly did the powder consist of?

Slow and Speedy Loaves

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 21:55:18 +0000

We’d promised the boys that we’d help them start building Auntie Katie’s 1987 lego robot while their parents attended a parents’ evening at school and we needed to get supper well underway before their arrival. There was just one problem - lack of bread to accompany our chicken stewup. Walnut spelt soda bread, from scales to table in just over 30 mins, was the solution and James tucked in like a trooper. I read in Angela Nilsen’s Ultimate Recipe Book that Irish tradition and folklore is intrinsically linked to the preparation. The deep cut cross is a blessing on the bread whilst the knife stabs in each quarter, release fairies before baking.

By way of contrast, I made my third batch of sourdough bread at the weekend. The taste is incredible and it gets a little airier each time but I’m still grappling with timings to fit into my working schedule.

I’m unlikely to fit in breadmaking next weekend but no doubt there’ll be baking of some sort on the agenda.

Unravelling the Yarn

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 08:24:28 +0000

I’ve recently completed a long line waistcoat which was a bit of an experiment with a pattern and yarn which weren’t designed for each other. Any knitter worth their salt would have knitted a tension square to ensure the resulting garment was the correct size. Alas, I didn’t and completed the whole thing before discovering it was too big. As I don’t like to waste yarn, I spent the whole of last evening unravelling it, ready to reknit.

Eric continued to work in the garden whilst spring is peeking through the winter gloom.

And, we ate baked smoked haddock and cabbage risotto for lunch which tasted a whole lot nicer than it looks.

Lofty Nostalgia

Sun, 21 Feb 2010 18:50:04 +0000

I spent this morning in the loft where a fascinating root through boxes of books occupied my morning. Our children all have houses (and lofts) of their own and the intention is that they take what’s theirs doing with it what they will. There are some things that I couldn’t bear to see destroyed. Early school exercise books are a case in point and Vicki’s from 1981 told some amusing stories. The drawing above illustrates her ‘news’ that we had to walk a mile and a half to take Becky to a fancy dress party. Kate, her two year old sister is in the buggy. This would have been significant for Vicki who was never keen on walking.

In another piece of writing (below), she recorded that her Daddy correctly guessed the weight of the cake at the school fair and as a consequence won the cake.

Nearly thirty years, on Vicki’s children are starting to draw and write about their own family news. My advice is - don’t destroy it. Happy memories come flooding back.

One Carbohydrate Too Many

Sun, 14 Feb 2010 17:21:13 +0000

We’ve had a relatively quiet weekend and I think it’s done the trick. Last night we popped along to the local theatre for a music and comedy treat. Barry Cryer and Ronnie Golden performed their Edinburgh Festival production with lyrics so cleverly written and musical styles, many and various, brilliantly executed by Ronnie. We were in stitches. I’d love to share some of the jokes here but the ones I remember aren’t really suitable for circulation via Ginger Grandma.

I’ll just say, if you get a chance to see the duo, don’t hesitate!

I spent this morning doing what I like to do best if I’m not roaming the countryside. While Eric continued clearing the back garden of old fence panels and posts (and whacked his head in the process, drawing blood) I cooked and listened to the Archers Omnibus. I had an inkling of what I might expect as Margaret called me, from her sick bed, on Friday night to ask if I’d been listening. Poor old Phil has died in role as well as in reality. I remember Dan, his dad, dying in 1986 whilst going to the aid of a sheep in trouble. It was too much for him and he had a heart attack. I told you I had been listening to the serial for ever.

If you’re wondering what I cooked today (and the oven is still on), a steak and kidney pie - at Eric’s request - and my very first sourdough loaf, which is just about to go in the oven.

It’s ages since I baked a meat pie and I used Granny L’s technique, cooking the meat, offal and onion in a rich gravy, allowing it to cool, setting the majority of gravy to one side, then sandwiching the meat and onion between two layers of pastry in a shallow pie dish. I used to serve potatoes with this pie but I don’t any more. It’s a reflection of our more sedentary lifestyle; just one carbohydrate too many.

Here it is...

It may not be the most beautiful loaf in the world. It wouldn’t win any prizes, but it’s a start.